The Application of Electroencephalography to Computer Assisted Instruction: A Conceptual Framework.

Schack, Edna O.

This paper examines the possibility of developing a conceptual framework on which future research on the application of electroencephalography (EEG) to computer-assisted instruction (CAI) could be based. Consistent associations between EEG and cognitive functions for learning and instruction have the potential for bringing cognitivism into the realm of behaviorism, i.e., electrical brain activity could be behavioral evidence of cognition. These associations would be based on the possibility of detecting and responding to the internal conditions of learning via EEG in such a way that instructional design would become a technology. A comprehensive scientific theory of learning and instruction would be developed based on identification and testing of all of the instructional variables, and based on physiological evidence, scientifically proven cognitive models, and empirical evidence from instructional environments. However, while the potential for such a theory exists, the reality of it remains unknown, and educators must, to some degree, continue the craft of quilting together the theories and variables of learning and instruction as new evidence is revealed, rather than attempting to construct "comprehensive" theories that are not empirically based. (4 references) (EW)